Park Cities Blog

Park Cities YMCA, city council continue to haggle over plans for new building

The months-long debate over the Park Cities YMCA plan to build a new, larger facility took a odd turn last night as its supporters suggested that they may have to withdraw their application.

Last month, the Park Cities YMCA plan won the approval of city council members who ok-ed a facility of up to 57,200 square feet. City council capped activity and office space, which directly contribute to traffic, at 43,530 square feet. All of the parking must be located in an underground garage.

But at Tuesday night’s council meeting, the project hit another snag. The city council and YMCA clashed when discussing how the building’s square footage is measured — from inside wall to inside wall or outside wall to outside wall.

City council voted down the YMCA’s request to measure from inside wall to inside wall, effectively taking away some of the space the Park Cities YMCA had planned to use.

“If we change, we’re going to set a precedent and in the future, we’re going to have people ask for inside measurement,” Councilman Bob Begert said.

John Bunten, a past board member for the Park Cities Family YMCA, said the lost space from the width of the wall — roughly 3,000 to 4,000 square feet — would significantly impact a project that has already been scaled back in size. “We’re trying to look for clarity if we need to pull the application or not,” he told city council on Tuesday night.

City council also questioned the YMCA’s request to use space in the underground parking garage. Council members asked YMCA representatives to return with more specifics and a precise square footage for the underground space they’d use.

City council voted to hold a special meeting next week to continue discussing requirements for the Park Cities YMCA and its planned development district.